


draw a monster. what makes it a monster?

by glorioushyunjin



Category: Stray Kids
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Character Transformation, Human Seungmin, Internal Conflict, Ugh, Werewolf Hyunjin, character turning into a werewolf, hyunjin against himself, i love this concept, seungmin is an understanding bf, theyre literally so soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 04:21:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18491239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorioushyunjin/pseuds/glorioushyunjin
Summary: seungmin helps hyunjin make peace.





	draw a monster. what makes it a monster?

**Author's Note:**

> this turned out so nice... i had a good time writing it and i hope some of yall will like it as well

snap.

the twigs on the forest floor break as hyunjin treads heavily. he glances, not for the last time, at the house standing tall in the glade, watching it grow smaller and smaller behind him as he runs through the woods. he has to get as far away as possible— it’s the only way he can keep seungmin safe.

the moon peeks out mockingly at him from behind a passing cloud, and he cringes at the harsh light, stumbling backward into the shadow of an old nurse tree. his heart thuds in his chest at the brief exposure to the moon’s light.

he can’t stand these nights, and what’s worse, he didn’t leave the house soon enough. hyunjin doesn’t know how he’d live with himself if he wakes and discovers that he’s hurt seungmin. hyunjin was to leave the house mid-afternoon and spends the evening preparing for his monthly transformation. he would get to the designated safehouse, lock himself in the underground “transformation chamber” (catchy, i know) and sit through the inevitable torment for the night.

however, seungmin decided that this afternoon was the perfect time to blow sleepy kisses at hyunjin from the sofa, foiling the elder’s plans of departure. it was cruel; hyunjin had given in to seungmin and his promise of kisses, and in turn has endangered his love. oh, dear. even through his panic, hyunjin’s heart aches at the thought of seungmin.

hyunjin feels his skin begin to crawl. even though he’s in the pacifying shadow of the nurse tree, it matters not where he is when the full moon rises; his cursed nature forces him to transform whether he’s in a hot air ballon or a submarine, and being in direct moonlight at this time of the month brings him pain of every kind.

nevertheless, transformations in direct light take less time. with this is mind, hyunjin gathers his courage and steps into the moonbeam shining in front of him, leaning on the front of the nurse tree for support that he knows he will need.  
immediately, the previously muted noise of his heightened senses skyrockets. everything is loud. he can hear the beating of a squirrel’s heart 100 feet away. he can hear the soft shuffling of a rabbit in her burrow. he can hear the rushing of an underwater stream. and then the torture begins. oh, how he wishes for relief, but the night has barely begun.

his shoulders widen with a deafening crack sending daggers of pain up his neck. his spine elongates, much too large for his human form. he whimpers in despair as his legs twist and turn, bones rearranging and reforming into the hind legs of something that isn’t quite a wolf. with a groan, hyunjin lurches further still into the blinding light from his spot against the tree. he’s a mess of misshapen and oddly sized limbs, pieces of two different puzzles forced into one. when both his back legs have become those of a beast, he falls to his would-be knees. his lack of knee joints causes him to flop forward, face scraping against the ground. his rounded ears grow longer and pointier. they twitch as leaves rustle close behind him. then, a familiar voice rings through the silence.

“hyunjin?”

_no._

this can’t be happening. hyunjin darts into the shadow of the towering trees once again and turns to face the source of the voice. it’s seungmin, sleepy and disoriented. 

_why is he here?_

seungmin knows what hyunjin is. he helped him formulate the plan to keep both of them safe during his transformations (the one that they both neglected to follow this month...).  
hyunjin looks closer as seungmin rubs at his eyes, yawning. then, he watches seungmin’s eyes widen. the boy’s not sleepy anymore.

“w-wait, jinnie, i—” 

seungmin leaves his sentence incomplete, freezing temporarily with fear. he breathes deeply, truying to calm down. it’s more for hyunjin’s sake than his own.

“i’m so sorry, love.” seungmin speaks. he makes no movement forward or backward, keeping his feet firmly on the ground. “i woke up and you had gone, and in my weary state, the date and time had slipped from my mind. all i could think was hyunjin, hyunjin, hyunjin.” 

at the sound of his name, hyunjin unconsciously directs his attention to seungmin. he’d been trying to fight off the transformation for a bit longer, enough for seungmin to get away, and had been focusing all of his energy on  
**not. changing.**

“darling,” hyunjin croaks out, his normally lilting vocal cords failing him, “please, you have to go!”

seungmin nods solemnly. he opens his mouth, seemingly about to formulate a goodbye, when hyunjin growls. he lunges forward, drenched in moonlight. his head spins as he tries to steady himself. he’s reaching the final stage of his transformation, and there is nothing left of the caring, loving hyunjin who left the house late because he couldn’t resist kisses. this is a werewolf in its heart of hearts. 

or, so people say. seungmin happens to believe otherwise.

“hyunjin, can you hear me?” he says, voice cautious. now that there’s no possible escape, he has to approach the problem at hand head-on.

hyunjin’s eyes flick up to meet seungmin’s. they are predatory and intimidating. seungmin doesn’t back down, though. he simply steps into the light, plants his feet on the ground and stares back with kind, understanding eyes. there is no trace of pity, though, and for that, hyunjin is grateful. seungmin breathes slowly and steadily, trying to keep a calm atmosphere in which to communicate his peaceful intentions. 

—

hyunjin’s mind is cloudy. 

_is that seungmin?_  
why is he staring at me?  
why isn’t he gone?  
why isn’t he scared?  
i should fight.  
no! i love him!  
he’s a threat.  
is he a threat??  
why is he so calm?  
why do i care?  
what’s going on? 

his wolf’s instincts are obstructing his judgement. he’s conflicted and frightened by the situation, so he does the only thing his wolf knows how to do.

he first leaps forward, intending to scare seungmin into action to begin a chase, but seungmin still only stares up at him. he makes no move to flee or fight hyunjin, remaining neutral to the werewolf. hyunjin tries another approach, snarling and baring his big, sharp teeth in seungmin’s face. again, seungmin only watches in apparent content.

hyunjin’s wolf is confused. why are none of the usual things working? he ducks his head back, turning to the side to escape seungmin’s unfaltering gaze. 

what is he supposed to do? what is he supposed to do? what is he supposed to do?

hyunjin’s temples are pounding as his wolf’s erratic thinking quiets down.

—

seungmin is not confused. he knows exactly what he’s doing.

seungmin doesn’t believe a word of the old tales of werewolves. they say that once a man has transformed, there is nothing human left in him, and he will show aggression to every advance made towards him.  
seungmin knows that this just isn’t true. he’d witnessed hyunjin’s confusion and hesitation. the werewolf had not taken to immediately attacking seungmin on sight; he attacked out of fright, and that is something that the boy can work with.

“hyunjin, my sweet, please listen to me,” seungmin calls out.

the wolf looks back at him, turning to face him with apparent melancholy. he quickly regains his intimidating appearance, rejecting his true expression as he turns to face his ‘opponent’. though hyunjin’s chosen expression is one of aggression, the tail between his legs and his flattened ears betray him. hyunjin lets out a long whine, shifting on his back paws. werewolves, unlike normal wolves, possess human characteristics like the ability to stand on their haunches and walk around as both a biped and quadruped. 

“i know you’re afraid.” 

the wolf winces at this. in a feeble attempt to appease his werewolf’s nature, hyunjin begins to snarl, but stops himself. hyunjin drops his head and looks up at seungmin through his lashes (yeah, dogs and wolves have eyelashes. don’t ask how i know), yellow eyes searching the boy’s deep brown ones.  
seungmin is in awe. the wolf before him is so human now, so _hyunjin_.  
seungmin’s honored to have been able to pierce through hyunjin’s fear, confusion, lashing out, and shame. pride swells within him, sympathy and affection bubbling in his chest for hyunjin.  
it’s too soon to take a step further, so he instead decides to do everything he can to convey his peaceful demeanor with body language. he keeps his palms up, hands at his sides and head facing forward.

seungmin takes a seat on the forest floor criss-cross applesauce and begins to speak softly with his love. he is careful to notice any change in the wolf’s expression as he speaks, which has melted from a half-hearted snarl to one of content. the wolf’s ragged breathing has subsided.

after half an hour of one-sided conversation, hyunjin is laying down like a dog in front of a fireplace. he has seungmin cradled beneath his paws.  
hyunjin has no way to communicate back to seungmin except through his eyes, which respond to seungmin’s tone, his laugh, his expressions. 

the two soon fall asleep under the light of the moon. as hyunjin loses consciousness, tail tucked against himself and a tranquil human using his huge paw as a pillow, the moon is suddenly not so imposing; not so mockingly bright.


End file.
